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SHOULD we put a sign on Thelwall Viaduct telling visitors heading our way from the well-to-do South East .... “North West closed for business. Thank You for your Support and Custom in the Past”.
Many will manage to survive. So why did those schemes go cap in hand in the first place to the NWDA for money? Did they perhaps see it as a convenient piggy-bank for their pet projects?
The spend thrift Coalition is closing its own Consulate in Liverpool, known as Government Office North West.
And now the terminally-ill North West Regional Development Agency has pulled the plug on funding for over 100 projects.
The publication of the hit-list late on Monday send shockwaves across the area as the details were absorbed. It must have been like on of those wartime casualty lists, people looking to see if they are affected.
Yet what struck me as the dust began to settle was the comments from disappointed participants saying they would find other ways to plug the gaps created by the sudden removal of funding.
Isn’t his a time to display true northern grit and show Ebenezer Cameron and Tiny Nick as well as Wilfred Pickles what we are made of? We don’t need their stinking money.
The new Everyman was expecting a lottery-sized cheque from the NWDA for over £2m to pay for the rebuilding of the much loved theatre of dreams up on Hope Street.
This is what Deborah Aydon, executive director of the Everyman and Playhouse, had to say “The loss of £2.4m is a substantial sum, around 10%. We are working very positively with partners to keep momentum going to make sure it is not a show stopper.”
Liverpool City Council had been expecting £2m to help pay for improvements to pavements and outdoor spaces in Old Hall Street, Dale Street, Mount Pleasant, and Castle Street. The council is looking at getting developers to stump up the money or scale down bits of the schemes.
The Mersey Partnership and Liverpool Vision will lose around £1m between them, money used to help their running costs. Both agencies have a host of private sector partners who may have to dig a little deeper into their corporate pockets.
Liverpool Science Park will lose £1.5m towards an £8m expansion to create a third building on the site off Brownlow Hill. The city council, the University of Liverpool, and John Moores University hope to borrow the money to make up the difference.
The speed of the NWDA’s £52m axe has been swift, with funding withdrawn from all projects still on the wrong side of winning that final sealed signature.
And there will be numerous schemes abandoned because of the withdrawal of this cashline.
Yet many will manage to survive. So why did those schemes go cap in hand in the first place to the NWDA for money? Did they perhaps see it as a convenient piggy-bank for their pet projects?
We’ve heard so many times we will suffer because of over over-reliance on public sector jobs and public sector money.
In the days of Objective One funding, some critics said Merseyside’s reliance on its poverty-status to collect Euro money was a bigger impediment to our growth, our image and our reputation than standing on our own two feet.
Let’s assume the attack on our finances and funding is an economic civil war. The North West, back by the Merseyside Irregulars are surely up for the battles ahead.
Schemes affected on Merseyside- Kingston House, Liverpool - Planning Fees, LangtreeFor a full list of projects affected in the north west, click here...
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Duh! But that was what the NWDA was for!
There's more grim news to come surely. Parliament has closed for the summer and when they come back there's the spending review. Baton down the hatches.....
Did u miss the point Trench. A lot of projects seem to be saying that it will all be alright anyway, that they will plug the gaps in NWDA funding somehow, so why go to NWDA in first place. Fair point Lazzer, though agree with you that many things will go to wall. I don't want my taxes to fund the English Half Marathon. No wonder we are skint!
Looking at the last of NWDA money recipients I am amazed. Perhaps we really do need a reality check and think more about helping ourselves. What about all the money it has cost organisations and quangos to put together their applications for funding. Bid writers don't come cheap. I looked at the full NWDA list and there was an amazing number from the Manchester area and aren't they supposed to be better off and therefore less in need of hand-outs than the Liverpool area. I hate to say this but I'm rather glad to see Manchester has had its snout dragged out of the trough. Good old Eric Pickles.
Laz been reading Churchill's memoirs? What next, grabbing our garden forks and marching on Whitehall. Of course we need their money, we are skint.
Surely the government should just keep borrowing money from the international banking cartels to fund vital projects such as these? Why cut when we can just borrow and spend?